MoVida Next Door

What a treasure! We stumbled upon this place because it was close to our hotel. We loved the noisy urban hip vibe. We went early and were seated almost immediately. Lucky because they don’t take bookings and it got very busy with long wait times. We quickly found out why. The tapas and small plate menu was perfect for sharing and the food is stellar! We wanted to try everything on the specials board. Everything we ordered was near perfection. A real feat considering the micro kitchen. Periodically folding stairs descended from the ceiling in the kitchen and staff went up to a second level, all but stopping production in the kitchen. That being said, what comes out of the kitchen is amazing. Fresh, creative and expertly prepared. The only reason I gave it four stars is the value. Our bill including food for two, one glass of wine each and one shared dessert was more than double what Unilocal indicated. Nevertheless, still a great evening!

Best meal in melbourne. Best sangria I’ve had. Wish I had room for entire menu :(run don’t walk here!

I used to live in Barcelona and was a bit skeptical when I’d heard about a great tapas place in Melbourne, but I’m glad I gave this place a shot. It’s small and doesn’t take reservations, so it can be a little frustrating to wait if you’re going with a group, but if it’s just you or one other person, it’s not awful.
The tapas are pretty authentic, and there’s a good list of Spanish wines (and other local options). The issue with this place, though, is that it’s not a great place to go if you’re really hungry for a substantial meal. If you want to grab a couple of drinks and some snacks, check this out. If you want to feel full, you’re going to have to drop a lot of AUDs here.
Food: ⁵⁄₅
Value: ³⁄₅
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅

I’m torn between giving this 4 and 5 stars.
I’ll start with, the food is excellent and is ultimately why it’s getting 5 stars. It’s all Tapas with some amazing options on both the menu and the boards above the bar. The Scallops in squid ink were perfect. The Sangria was quite tasty as well. We ordered a mix of things, I think something with shrimp and something with duck as well, and there were no misses. It’s been a while since my partner and I were there, but the thing I remember best was how good everything tasted. The woman at the bar was very nice as well.
The downside is that this place is tiny and they don’t do bookings. We had to wait crammed in a corner and it took a long time to order the drink we were encourage to enjoy while we waited. Once we were seated things moved along smoothly though. This is defiantly not a place for a large group, but if you’re willing to sit it out the food is worth the wait.

A wonderful little place that you can knick in quickly pre event and grab an incredibly satisfying meal and leave without feeling like you have filled up on cheap and nasty carbs.
Look above the bar for the fresh seafood and other protein packed meals.
If you can, get one of everything. You won’t regret it.

You can’t complain about your dining experience when you’re sitting right next to Tony Hawk. Oh, and when the food is as delicious as it is at MoVida Next Door.
Myself and three friends scored a table right at the front which was ideal as we are big people watchers, so combining that with delicious wine and great tapas just makes for one big, fat, fantastic time.
We sampled the Tortilla, the Croqueta, the Bomba (chorizo in potato… say whaaaaat?!) and the Pincho de Pollo to start off with and in reality, we probably should have stopped there. But there was so much more to try so we continued on to Berenjenas (eggplant chips) and Embutido (meat platter) all while watering it down with the Catalunya.
Look, we definitely ate to excess, but it was absolutely worth it. Great atmosphere and excellent service, however the wait times can be quite lengthy for some — we were lucky this time round.
Would definitely recommend to people looking to have a high social experience.

Perhaps the best meal that I’ve had in Australia. Plates are small and pricey, but very creative and very tasty – worth every cent. I’d rather eat here once than three good meals anywhere else!

Eggplant Chips! Order them… you can definitely send me a Thankyou!
There are a few things for Vegetarians — yet all my meat/​fish eating friends I was with were happy. Prices are very reasonable & we walked right in and got seated… what?! I would skip the Sangria — I’ve had better and that would be the only thing I ordered that I was disappointing.

Get here early for a quiet lunch on a Friday afternoon. Had a lot of trouble deciding which dessert to have. I highly recommend the croquets to start.

Fantastic friendly service helpful suggestions on the best specials and delicious tapas with a great selection of wines by the glass

Great food, fantastic service, but we didn’t try the drinks —
We opened with the viera, a raw scallops and prawns special. The scallops and prawns were really fresh, the scallops sweet — we thought this was a strong start but in retrospect this was the weakest dish!
We followed with the pato, also off the specials — duck leg confit with cherries and honeyed walnuts. I don’t know why doing confit well is so hard (okay actually I do) and this was actually incredible. Crisp skin, amazing flavorful eat with a spoon flesh. I could have ordered two more and been very very happy. Amazing.
We ordered the rest of the meal at this point — anchoa, bomba, embutido.
The anchoa came on wafer-​thin toasts with a sweet goat cheese, capers, and a gazpacho paste. Really impressive presentation — this was both the best presented and the best tasting anchovy I’ve had. I should have been a food tourist and taken a shot, it was really well done.
The bomba are potato fritters with chorizo. I liked them but compared to the rest of the dishes it was merely good.
The embutido was a selection of three cured meats — a salsiccione, a ventresca, and a chorizo. The salsiccione was good, a fair representation of what a good baseline salami should taste like. The chorizo was great — spicy and bright. The ventresca was complex, sweet, with a body that took time to develop into a spicy, smoky finish. I didn’t know that salami could do that.
I’m only here for a few days and I never do this but I may be back again. I’m impressed!

Let’s firstly step away from the usual Movida hype and take a looksie at this little gem after recent renovations. Little has changed except the window seats now offer more space for patrons. Which seems to have also resulted in louder music to drown out the happy talkative patrons.
As a regular visitors to MoVida next door we where very disappointed by our set visit. Yes it was grand final weekend but I’m here for a good time not a squished socially ambiguous meal with strangers. Who took my tapas.
The wait staff looked exhausted and exasperated. Which was rather sad as we arrived before 8pm. The smiles dropped off as soon as they turned away from patrons and we felt like a but of a burden this time around.
The food was at the usual level that we come to expect from this kitchen. Which generally is a m a z i n g! We never leave without a crème catalana for dessert.
Another pleasant surprise is the ever changing sangria. No two visits have resulted in us having the same tasting sangria. Makes for a happy surprise.
Is it worth the hype? Yes. Do I recommend you go here? Double Yes.
Will I return? Probably sooner than later in all honesty.

I’m quite thankful my party of 3 arrived on time at 6pm so we didn’t have to wait to be seated, because by 7 Movida Next Door was booming. Despite being busy, the staff were attentive and dishes & drinks were quick to arrive. I’m always a bit worried about restaurants that are so hyped and talked about, but Movida Next Door definitely did not disappoint.
The menu seems small, but there’s a little something for everyone. There’s a strong focus on seafood, with a large range of sardines and anchovies. There are also differnet meat and veggie dishes to sample. Obviously since it is tapas, you have to order a few dishes but they’re certainly not as small as I imagined they would be! We got 6 dishes between us and were quite satisfied.
It’s not the kind of place you would go every week, but I would definitely return for a special occasion!

We stumbled into MoVida Next Door thinking it was the not-​Next-​Door MoVida because we are extremely silly people. Luckily for us, MoVida Next Door don’t require bookings and we were seated straight away.
Their menu is simple and uncomplicated with a hearty specials menu. Highlights for us were the grilled prawns and baked apple for dessert. Our waiter was very knowledgable and was able to recommend us some great sherry.

Ein muß bei jedem Stop! Gleichbleibende hohe Qualität!

With a big focus on seafood, Next Door is a great place to go when you want to gorge on our friends from the sea. Make sure you listen to the specials carefully, because this is often where the magical items are. Think fresh yabbies, cuttlefish served in its own ink, oysters and, if you’re lucky, some of the most ludicrously large mussels you may ever have the joy of eating.
These monsters are longer than my palm and come steamed with herbs and Fino sherry. The meat is sweet and meaty and works wonderfully well with the briney quality of the Fino. I recently shared them with a friend, along with a number of other dishes, and they were the highlight of our meal, the sauce mopped up with chunks of Movida’s excellent house-​made bread. A week later I found myself walking past thinking of them. I couldn’t resist… I popped my head in and asked if they were on that day. Upon being told they were, I pulled up a stool at the bar, order a glass of Fino and then devoured the whole bowl for a late lunch. Perfection.
My only criticism is that it’s possible to feel rushed here, with plates arriving too quickly and a frantic eating pace set by the fact that things are going cold in front of you. Even asking for dishes to be brought out «slowly» doesn’t seem to help so my recommendation if you’re planning to order many dishes is to order half to begin with and THEN order the second round.

The ultimate in spanish tapas…
MoVida next door is literally next door to the restaurant in Hosier Lane. There’s no bookings, just tables around a central bar and kitchen. I went late (around 9pm) and still had to wait about 5 minutes for a table (lubricated by sangria) but it was definitely worth it.
Unlike most spanish tapas meals, there is usually one or two dishes you don’t really like. The beauty of MoVida is that everything is amazing. The menu is seasonal with specials written in spanish on the blackboard around the bar, so tasty morsels subject to change but highlights for me was the mushroom croquettes, crab, the biggest mussels EVER in a pot (they can do half serves), potato bomba, and grilled prawns.
Only downside is that if you like a drink, the Sangria and beers are $ 10 each and bottles of wine start at about $ 50. Makes the total bill quite steep but go here on a special occassion and you will be impressed.
Service is absolutely impeccable.

Really great restaurant. They definitely know how to prepare fish dishes and serve them the right way. As for the service– our waiter was really charming, friendly and very helpful. He recommended us a wine to go with our dishes and I must admit that this man definitely knew what he was doing– the wine didn’t outshine the taste of the dish, quite on the contrary it only heightened it and made it even more delicious.
Overall this is truly an excellent place, worth checking out and I will be definitely be coming back for more pretty soon.

Amazing place!
This is like my favourite place ever from now on! I have paid a few visits to this restaurant and each one was just great. Meals are always fresh, well cooked and served with smile. The hospitality of the staff is astonishing, its just great how they are always being welcoming and smiling. Prices are average, decoration is decent and atmosphere is relaxing.
Highly recommended if you are looking for a nice place to hang out with friends or spend some quality time with the loves ones.

I had the eight course degustation… each course superseded the other and unlike most tapas places I didn’t need to stop by McD’s on the way home due to hunger pains… admittedly I didn’t pay on the night so I can’t comment on price.

Tasty, tasty, tasty. Great atmosphere too. Expensive, but IMHO definitely worth it!

Probably the best meal I’ve had on my stay in Melbourne. The rib was yummy and addictive. Our waiter suggested an excellent wine. We were absolutely satisfied from the service. I’m happy to recommend this place.

Sehr Kleiner Laden in einer Seitengasse des cbd in die man ohne jegliche Tips dieser Art hier nicht unbedingt einbiegen würde…Graffiti an den Wänden und die Gasse an sich am Abend eher spärlich ausgeleuchtet… Aber dafür hat es das Essen in sich. Vorab gleich einen ernst gemeintne Tip. Reservierung ist unbedingt von Nöten, da der Laden nur ca.40−50 Plätze hat die auch jeden Abend teils mehrmals ausgebucht sind.
Nun zum Essen
Es gibt ca.20 verschiedene Tapas und kleiner Gerichte die aber allein gegessen nicht“satt“machen…(Was sie ja auch nicht sollen… Essen soll schmecken!!!)Ca. 10 davon sind schon für 2 Pers. kalkuliert. Also auch hier der Hinweis so viele Freunde wie möglich mitnehmen (mind.4)
Dann machts auch richtig Spass sich durch die durchdachte sehr autentische Karte die auch mit moderen Einflüssen daher kommt zu schlemmen. Diese Wechselt regelmässig.
Aber es gibt immer wieder die Highlighter wie z.B.Luftgetrocknetes Wagyu mit pochiertem Ei und Trüffelschaum oder kaltgeräucherte Makrelle mit Gaspacho Pinen Sorbet… die auch nicht von der Karte verschwinden… Hatte einige gelungene Abende mit gutem Wein netten Gastgebern und tollem Australisch-​Spanischen Flair der diese ganze Stadt so interessant macht erlebt…